The latest on plagiarism

This week's plagiarism round up...

Barely a week has gone by since I last put together a round up of plagiarism news around the World, but with so much going on, I couldn't resist posting up the latest news and gossip. From "Australia's Got [borrowed] Talent' to "Jesus is Awesome', this week's been a good one. Read on to get the round up...

June 29th – The Daily Telegraph report that celebrated Left-wing commentator, Johann Hari, may have to hand back some of the numerous awards for his insightful interviews and the memorable quotes that he often teased from his subjects. Yesterday he was forced to admit that some of the quotes were recycled, leaving his career as a leading political journalist in the balance and prompting demands for him to hand back awards (Richard Alleyne, The Daily Telegraph).

I like Dan Sabbagh's review of the same story in The Guardian – he notes that Hari "denies it was churnalism". Is that a new buzz word?

June 28th – Over in the States, The Associated Press State & Local Wire note that while Wolcott schools prohibit students from plagiarising, the school superintendent is defending a speech he gave to graduating high school seniors last week that included material taken from the Internet. The Republican-American of Waterbury reports that parts of Superintendent Joseph Macary's speech were nearly identical to parts of an essay about leadership written by a California college professor. Tut tut.

June 28th – In the The Vancouver Sun, Chelsey Burnside reports that the copyright debate is heating up in fashion industry with small labels looking like the likely losers under proposed laws, leaving them powerless against plagiarism.

June 27th – We don't hear much from down under but there was plagiarism allegations stirring the Aussies this week this week when "Australia's Got Talent" contestant Jordan Paris was accused of plagiarising his comedy routine that got him through to the top-rating show's semi-finals. He made national news last month after it appeared part of his comedy routine that impressed judges Kyle Sandilands, Dannii Minogue and Brian McFadden was lifted from British comedian Lee Mack. Paris said he heard the jokes from a friend (Source: Sunday Territorian).

June 26th - The Qatar News Agency report for Heidelberg, Germany that a German member of the European parliament who had her doctorate revoked earlier this month for plagiarism resigned from the parliamentary research committee, according to her spokesman. Silvana Koch-Mehrin was under strong pressure from the leading alliance of German science organisations to resign from the panel because plagiarism of scientific academic papers harmed the reputation of German science and research.

June 24 – Perla Trevizo reports for the Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee) that students' concerns over plagiarism by Tennessee Temple University President Danny Lovett ultimately led to his resignation from the school. Apparently Lovett, while acknowledging that he plagiarised some passages in his book "Jesus is Awesome," said he was leaving the university anyway. "I was planning on making a transition out of the presidency because I became a pastor at Highland Park [Baptist Church]," Lovett, 57, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Belgium, where he's attending a pastor's conference.